Erik Grumpelt's Girlfriend Admitted to Cheating on Him -- So He Murdered Her and Lived in Apartment With Corpse for More Than Two Months

Erik Grumpelt lived with his girlfriend's dead body on the floor of his apartment for more than two months.

Mesa Police Department

Erik Grumpelt's girlfriend admitted to him that she'd had sex with other men in his bed. He then kneed her in the lower abdomen several times as the two were in that very bed, apparently killing her.

That was more than months ago, and Grumpelt's been living with the decomposing body in his apartment ever since -- until his arrest yesterday morning, that is.

According to Mesa police, Grumpelt admitted to kneeing his girlfriend, 39-year-old Malinda Raya, in the abdomen three or four times on the morning of May 19 -- after she admitted to sleeping with other men in his bed.

Cops were only called on Monday -- more than two months after Raya's death.

The body was found in Grumpelt's apartment in the Shorebird Apartment Homes near U.S. 60 and Country Club Drive in Mesa. It was wrapped in sheets on the floor of his bedroom and carpet deodorizers and air fresheners were found near the corpse in an attempt to mask the odor of a body in "advanced stages of decomposition."

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Grumpelt stayed at his father's house Sunday night and told him about the dead girlfriend he had stashed in his apartment. His father discovered the body the next day and called Chandler paramedics, who called the Mesa Police Department once the body was discovered.

Following his arrest, Grumpelt told police he gave Raya CPR for about 30 minutes after the assault, but was unable to revive her. He admitted to kneeing her in the abdomen, but says killing her was an accident.

According to Mesa police, Grumpelt was admitted to the Chandler Regional Hospital on Monday morning. It's unclear why, but we've requested his arrest report, which probably will provide more details.

Grumpelt was released from the hospital yesterday and booked into jail on one count of second-degree murder. He was being held without bond.